Bottom club Airdrie's misery continued as Davide Xausa's 86th-minute goal denied them even the solace of a point in their 2-1 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The Diamonds took the lead after a goalless first half thanks to a well-worked move from their striking partnership.

Martin Prest put David Fernandez in the clear and he had plenty of time and space to lob the Inverness keeper Jim Calder for the opening goal.

Their lead was short-lived when Caley Thistle equalised three minutes later through a fine 20-yard strike from Paul Sheerin.

The turning point came on 71 minutes when the home side were reduced to ten men. Austin McCann was red-carded following an off-the-ball incident.

Although Airdrie pressed forward looking for the winner they were hit by the sucker punch with four minutes remaining when Xausa found himself in the clear to net easily.

The talking point of the match was the decision of the referee to go card-crazy in the closing minutes.

Jesus Garcia Sanjuan picked up his second yellow card to leave the Diamonds with two men suspended for next week's match as well as having to recover from their lowly position.